


Coffee?

by hmweasley



Series: HPFC Easter Egg Hunt 2018 [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Awkwardness, Bisexual Luna Lovegood, F/F, Gay Cho Chang, References to Past Bullying, one-sided Cho Chang/Luna Lovegood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 18:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14171073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/hmweasley
Summary: When Luna runs into Cho several years after leaving Hogwarts, she isn't expecting to be asked to coffee.





	Coffee?

For all her shoulder shrugging when asked about it, Luna remembered the names of everyone who had taunted her during her Hogwarts years.

Thinking back on it filled her with sadness, not anger. She held little resentment for the kids who had played tricks on her or, in the rarer cases, mocked her to her face. Her years spent alone had helped her understand why someone would do such things for the approval of friends. She couldn’t find it in herself to hold it against them.

That didn’t mean she cared to speak to the people who had hurt her when she saw them out and about after finishing school. Most of them had matured into adults who had no desire to mock her, but their biting words stuck around.

Seeing Cho Chang on the streets of Diagon Alley was more of the same. Luna was prepared to keep her head turned and continue on her way, but Cho was one of the rare few who had different ideas.

In all fairness, the girl hadn’t inflicted much cruelty herself. Instead, she had stood by and laughed as other students called Luna names. At some point, the distinction between the taunters and the bystanders had stopped meaning much.

“Luna, hi!”

No matter how she felt, Luna couldn't bring herself to ignore anyone, so she slowed to a stop, pasting a smile on her face as a beaming Cho descended upon her.

“Hello,” she greeted. “How are you?”

She could tell Cho was relieved to have received a friendly response. Her smile softened.

“I’m doing wonderfully. And you?”

Luna internally sighed at being caught in such mundane conversation. Deciding that she was going to have some fun, she was careful to keep her smile from turning into a smirk.

“Fantastic,” she said. “Early this morning, I finalized this month’s edition of _The Quibbler_. I’m pretty proud of the headlining story. I spent months writing about the secret Ministry plot that’s been looting ancient Egyptian graves using nifflers for centuries.”

None of it was a lie, but she might not have shared the information if she hadn’t known of its potential to unnerve Cho. She liked to think that she’d never let the pressure to be “normal” change her, but she had naturally grown to share less of her more out there (and she did acknowledge they were out there to many folks) views.

Cho nodded for a few seconds too long before she managed to say, “That sounds like an interesting story.”

“Oh, yes. Few scandals can be as gripping as those that involve the government, and to think, they happen every day while most of the public sips their tea none the wiser.”

Cho cleared her throat.

“Right,” she said. “The Ministry has its fair share of bad eggs.”

Luna hummed in agreement, smiling sweetly at Cho as if she didn’t realize the effect her words were having.

She wasn’t expecting what came next.

“It really is nice to run into you,” Cho said. “Would you want to get coffee sometime?”

Luna narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t detect any malice in Cho’s words, but they set off the alarm bells she’d honed over her years at Hogwarts that warned her of an oncoming joke of which she was the victim.

“Look, Cho,” she said, dropping her facade, “why would you want to get coffee with me? We weren’t on friendly terms at Hogwarts. If this is just because of my friendship with Harry, then I’m going to have to say no.”

If her motive was getting closer to Harry, it wouldn’t have been the first time someone had tried to use Luna that way. She’d had to learn that having friends sometimes had its own hazards. At least when one of your friends was the hero of the wizarding world.

“Besides,” Luna continued, “I know you dated him back in school, but him and Ginny are pretty strong. I don’t think you have much hope there. No offense.”

Cho snorted in laughter, bringing one hand up to daintily cover her mouth.

“Believe me, I’m not interested in Harry.”

Luna raised an eyebrow as Cho continued to laugh as if Luna had said something hilarious. After a few moments, Cho noticed her confusion and sobered, giving her a gentle smile.

“Part of me had hoped you’d heard because I still get a little nervous each time I have to do this, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you haven’t. As you so succinctly put, we ran in different circles. But I am well and truly gay.”

She exhaled as if getting those words out had released tension Luna hadn’t realized she was holding. Luna blinked several times, thinking back to Hogwarts and any possible inkling she might have had that Cho liked girls. She couldn’t come up with anything.

Images of Cho with Cedric and Harry and several other boys flashed through her mind. Those relationships hadn’t appeared any different to her than any other relationship she’d observed over her years at Hogwarts. They’d all seemed a bit shallow, to be sure, but Luna had thought that a staple of Hogwarts relationships, even as a teenager herself.

“Huh,” was all she could find it in herself to say in response

She regretted it moments later when Cho’s nervous smile dropped to a frown.

“I’m bisexual,” Luna blurted out. “Just so you know.”

Though Cho had appeared nervous about revealing her own sexuality, Luna was quite comfortable discussing hers, yet she still blushed at the awkward way their conversation was going. She hadn’t forgotten who Cho was or what their past together had been like, and she hadn’t forgotten that Cho wanted to get coffee.

“Really?” Cho asked, smile returning. 

She fidgeted nervously for a few seconds before she spoke again.

“I really am sorry about everything that happened at Hogwarts. What I did was inexcusable. I’m not even friends with most of those people anymore, and to think that I went along with their idiotic jokes because I wanted them to like me… Well, it wasn’t one of my finer moments.”

Luna nodded slowly, watching Cho to see if she would say anything more.

Cho took a deep breath. She was wringing her hands and was suddenly unable to look directly at Luna. She stared at a group of witches that had congregated on the other side of the road.

“Back then, I actually had a crush on you to be honest.”

Luna’s eyes widened before she got herself under control and schooled her features into a passively amused expression.

“You did?” she asked, trying not to sound more than politely curious. “I never would have guessed.”

Cho laughed.

“I couldn’t blame you for that.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “To be honest, I think that’s why I stood by and let them be mean to you. I was scared if I said something they’d realize I was gay. I’m so, so sorry about that. It was immature and stupid of me.”

Luna hummed in acknowledgement, her lips thin.

“Thank you for apologizing,” she said. “I appreciate it.”

She glanced over her shoulder in the direction she’d been heading before Cho stopped her.

“I’m sorry, but I need to get going,” he said, already taking several steps away from Cho. “I promised Ron that I would help him with a new Weasley product today. My lips are sealed on the details, but he thinks I’m the right person for the job.”

“Oh.” Cho’s smile faltered as she realized she was being rejected. “That sounds awesome. It must be a lot of fun helping out there. Everyone loves that store.”

If she’d been speaking to almost anyone else, Luna would have gone on about how much she loved spending time at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. She went at least once a month to help Ron and George out, and she loved that developing new products flexed her creative muscles in ways her various other projects didn’t. But to Cho, she merely nodded.

“It’s amazing,” she said, “and right now, I’m running late.”

With a few more hurried goodbyes, Luna continued on, trying with all her might to push the uncomfortableness of the morning out of her mind for the rest of the day.


End file.
